Golden Rose of Summer
by PaintedBird1214
Summary: Lucy's perfect summer is ruined by her father's unexpected family trip. She hates it all and wants to leave but after a single torturous hour of boredom locked in her new room, she opens up to it a bit more. Then she meets Natsu, the local pink-haired dense idiot with an overwhelming amount of loyalty. Will she open up to him or will she spend her summer away from home alone?
1. Chapter 1

Dragging my suitcases behind me, I watch my sister dance around in the sunlight, my mood worsening. I can't believe my father made me come here. It's a fantastic way to ruin my perfect summer. "Michelle! Just get your damn suitcases already!" I snap.  
"Lucy Heartfilia! Watch your language and don't be so mean to your sister!" my dad scolds me. "You can take as long as you want, sweetie," he adds to my sister, his voice now sweet as honey.  
I groan and find my mood has once again worsened though I thought that was impossible. I then tune out my dancing, singing, happy-go-lucky sister and father the best I can and focus on the house in front of me. It's not terribly small but it's not large either. It's a wooden plank house that's painted a light blue. A porch goes all the way around the front and it's in great condition for how old my dad said it is. Though I guess the outside could be completely different from the inside.  
After some difficulty getting my suitcases up the stairs onto the front porch, I get to the door. Sadly, the door is still closed as I'm the first to reach it so I let go of one of my suitcases and grab the handle. The knob has a little resistance in it but it still doesn't take much to twist. I push the door open and look around, the hand that opened it reaching back to grab the suitcase once again.  
There's a small patch of floor that's tiled, probably for the colder seasons when there's a bunch of snow or mud being dragged around, but then it changes to a tan color. To the left is the living room, kitchen, and dining room only separated by floor and no walls. The living room contains a large, white, comfortable looking couch in front of a small, dinky TV with two chairs that match the couch on either side of it. There's a small oval coffee table in front of the couch. The top is glass but the legs and edges are wooden. Against the wall farthest from the entrance, there's a bookshelf filled with books from top to bottom and there's even a few books stacked on the table. Against the wall of the kitchen there's a white refrigerator, a dish washer, stove, and a counter with a tan top. The sink is built into one part of the counter and there's a microwave and toaster on it as well. There's also a small island, mostly for cooking since there's not much space anywhere else. The dining room is small and consists of only a larger than necessary brown wooden table and a total of six chairs around it, two on each side of the longer sides and one at each end. There's also two extra chairs against the wall. The whole space is lit up incredibly well despite there only being a few lights in total.  
That's all I have the time I have to look around before my dad comes inside, forcing me forward. "Leave your suitcases there and look at those two rooms," he says pointing at the two closest doors to my right. "Those are your and your sister's rooms. Since you're the first one in and you're the oldest I'll let you pick yours."  
I nod, my mood slightly improved with that sentence, though I'm still furious. Walking over to the first door, I look in. The bed, closer to inside wall I'm at and currently covered only by some white sheets and a light pink comforter, is to the right of the door where I stand, the headrest against the wall. There's a small nightstand on both sides of it. The left stand has a vase with pink flowers that look like they're beginning to droop and an alarm clock while the right one has just a lamp. In the left corner farthest from the door there's a drawer that I'm guessing is empty. To the left of the bed is a door and after going to it and opening it, I find it's a small closet. In the exact middle of the room, there's a small table. It's small enough that someone on their knees or sitting on their butt on the ground could easily use it. Using a chair with it would probably actually be stupid. The only other thing in there is a chair like the ones in the living room right in front of a window looking outside toward the middle of the wall. Since there's nothing else to look at, I leave and go to the other room. This second room is much like the other one except it's slightly bigger, it has purple stuff instead of pink and it's flipped around so everything to the right in the other one is to the left in this one and vice versa. The bed to the left looks exactly like the one in the other room besides the purple comforter and the nightstands have exactly the same things, of course with purple flowers instead of pink ones. The closet in this one is also empty.  
I know exactly which one I want when I walk back out. I find Michelle has come inside with her luggage and is looking around at all the rooms. She's just about to go into the bigger bedroom I was just in so quickly yell out to her. "Michelle, that's my room so don't go in it!"  
"Why do you get to pick your room but I don't?"  
"Because there's only two bedrooms besides the Master bedroom Dad gets and I get to pick the one I want since I'm the oldest and I was the first one in here," I say matter-of-factly.  
She crosses her arms and pouts. "That's no fair."  
"Yes it is Michelle," I hear my father say. "You always get things first these days and it's Lucy's turn."  
"She doesn't even want to be here!"  
"So? That doesn't mean I'm not the oldest and most responsible!" I growl.  
"What's the point of having a big room if you're not even gonna try to make friends here to share it with!"  
"The point is to make myself as comfortable as possible while in this hell hole!"  
We start bickering back and forth until our dad comes in, obviously fed up with us. "Enough you two! We're here to get away from our everyday lives, not bicker over pointless things!" This shuts us both up. "Now go to your rooms and get things set up. If either of you need any extra blankets or anything, come find me. I brought a lot of extra stuff with me and there's a closet full of stuff in my room. I'll get you both when dinner is done." We both nod, grab our suitcases, and head to our new rooms. With my terrible mood completely back, I slam my door extra hard to get out some frustration and I swear it shakes the whole damn house.  
After making the bed with my blankets and pillows, putting away all my clothes in the dresser, and putting up pictures of me and my friends back home, I sit in the chair in front of the window and look out, already bored of this place now that there's nothing else to do. It has gotten dark already and dinner should be ready soon. The scene outside is peaceful yet it makes me want to shoot myself. I want the view from my window back home. Instead of the peaceful woods I want the empty road. Instead of fireflies, I want street lamps. Instead of a neighbor ten minutes away by foot, I want my neighbors ten seconds away by foot. Sighing, I turn away from the window. I still can't believe I'm here in the first place and what's worse is that Dad is restricting my electronic time. One hour of TV each day and while I'm allowed my phone all day long, I'm restricted to calling, texting, and internet depending on what I need it for. He didn't let me bring along my computer and tablet. He has my charger too so he can keep me in check by keeping track of when it charges and how charged it is every time it's used. If I get out of line, he will simply take away the charger and let me use my phone 'til it runs dry.  
Looking around the room, my eyes land on my notebooks and pencil case on top of the table. I'd brought everything I could find to occupy my time without any electronics so of course some art supplies came along. With nothing else to do, I walk over to them and take out my colored pencils. I flip to the first unused page in the notebook and stare at the it. It's been a long time since I've sat down to just draw and I have no idea where to start. After minutes of just sitting there I remember what I used to do when this happened. I would just draw the first thing that came to mind and draw it. If that was a vase, I'd draw it. If it was a dog, I'd draw it. If it was cheese, I'd draw it. If it was a friend, I'd draw it. So that's what I do. The first thing I think of is home so I start drawing. I first start with a pencil light sketch that I'll edit, darken, and color later.  
At least that's what I try to do. I've barely finished the basic outline of the house by the time I'm sighing of boredom and putting the pencil down. I put all the supplies away and stand up, moving to the next thing I see, my old guitar. I pick it up and sit down on my bed with it. I pick at a few of the strings before deciding to actually play it. Of course I have to tune it first. So I go string by string until I think they're about perfect. With tuning done and out of the way, I play a simple tune for a few minutes to warm up and after a while of getting rid of the rust that has built up, I decide to move on to actual songs. It feels good to play this again. It's been maybe a year or so since I've even looked at it. After playing a few songs, I put the guitar away and sit back down on my bed to decide what to do next.  
Multiple attempts of trying to find something entertaining, I'm lying on my bed staring at the ceiling. My plan of staying locked in my room is going terribly so far. It's almost not worth it. At least out there I have people to talk to and a television to watch, even if that's for only an hour. It's one less hour of absolute boredom. So with a huff, I stand up, walk to my door, put on my grumpy face, and walk out. My dad is in the kitchen and Michelle is at the dining room table coloring. They both look up at me and Dad smiles. "Well look who's left the solitary of their room. Only took an hour, too."  
"An hour! That was an hour? Felt like a lifetime."  
Both of them laugh and I just growl at them "You're right on time though. Dinner is done."  
"Great," I grumble as I sit down in the end chair closest to my room. Before I know it, a plate of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and a buttered up roll sits in front of me. With a thanks toward my dad, I'm gobbling it up. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I was eating. Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten much since our small breakfast this morning.  
With food in my stomach, I'm in a better mood and decide to stay out here with my family to use up my hour of television, which also improves my mood greatly. The hour goes quickly and soon enough, the TV is turned off but I don't get mad somehow. Instead, I stay out of my room and play Candyland at Michelle's request with her and Dad. All throughout the game we're talking and laughing together. By the end of the game, we've added about 10 inside jokes to our family joke list, which didn't have many before today.  
At the end of the game, we all agree that it's time for bed so we separate and go to our own rooms. My room now seems lonely and everything seems even more boring than they had before so I change into my pajamas and settle into the sheets and blankets, exhaustion hitting me like a freight train as I close my eyes for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Since my room doesn't have its own bathroom like my room back home does, I have to share the only bathroom with my sister. This causes my morning to start terribly. After a nice refreshing shower, I start drying off when my sister barges in. "Michelle! Get out!" With wide eyes and a memory that's nothing but horrifying for her, she slams the door shut, screaming her sorry one hundred times more than what's necessary.  
After that, I scramble to get my clothes on, not wanting to take any chances. When I'm done, I call out to Michelle that I'm decent and will no longer scar her for life upon sight. After her walking in with me, the morning can't get any worse, right?  
Wrong.  
I still have yet to do my makeup, hair, and other things smaller things while Michelle still needs to take a shower. So after some arguing, I'm forced out of the bathroom with no makeup on and my hair a complete mess. On top of that, I still have morning breath. But with the bathroom unavailable and everything I need in there, I don't have much choice in my next actions. My stomach is growling so even though I usually skip breakfast, I make my way to the kitchen to make some breakfast. Thankful we have cereal and milk, I grab them as well as a bowl from the cabinet above the counter. This is cut short, however, when I lose my grip on the milk and it goes crashing down to the floor, spilling not only all over the floor, but all over my clothes too.  
Cursing at myself, I pick up the milk carton but the damage is already done and it's already spilled 99% of its contents. This won't make up for even half a bowl of cereal. Not knowing what to do with this tiny amount of milk, I decide to drink it. So I set it down on the counter and put its cap on to save for when the floor is dry and I've changed clothes. Grabbing a towel, I wipe up the milk. It takes a good few minutes because of how much there is and how much it enjoys doing nothing but spread no matter what I do. When I've finally got the floor milk-free, I throw the towel in the basically empty laundry hamper in the laundry room. Then I walk to my room to decide what to change into.  
Twenty minutes later and I'm still deciding what to wear. With a sigh and a groan, I grab some shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top and throw them on. If I was going to have such a bad day, I'm not going to risk ruining more of my good clothes. With the floor and my clothes taken care of, I walk back out to find my father looking angry. "What's wrong, Dad?" I ask.  
At my voice, he turns toward me. "Why's the milk out and why is it so empty?"  
"Oh. I accidentally spilled it. And it's out because I was gonna drink it since there's not enough for the bowl of cereal I had planned."  
"Goddamn it Lucy. It's not that hard to keep a grip on milk!"  
"I'm sorry! It was an accident!"  
He turns away, harshly closing the refrigerator door. "Just take care of the milk and the cereal and stop dropping things." Then he walks away.  
Perfect. What a wonderful day this is. With anger exploding inside me, I gulp down the last of the milk, pour the uneaten and dry cereal back into the box, put the box away, and throw away the empty milk carton. Then I stomp my way to the bathroom. Knocking on the door as hard as I can, I shout, "Are you done yet? What in the hell are you doing in there?"  
"Gimme a minute Lucy!"  
Grumbling under my breath, I lean against the wall until the bathroom door finally open to a refreshed and clean Michelle. "About damn time."  
Michelle, oblivious to my bad mood or choosing to ignore it, skips away. "Have fun!"  
After this terrible start for today, I decide to just throw my hair into a ponytail and not even bother with makeup. So after brushing out my hair, I throw it into a ponytail, put deodorant on, spray on some perfume, and brush my teeth. With the bad mood my father seems to be in, I don't want to even ask about my phone so I decide to just leave it. I'll ask him for the charger later.  
Not knowing what to do in here, I decide to go outside and explore a little bit. It's only 10 am so I have plenty of time to waste. I walk out of the house and breathe in the fresh air. I start walking down the road, looking at everything around me. That mostly consists of trees, trees, and trees but it's still fun. The road has an incredible amount of twists and turns which would normally annoy me but I somehow manage to find it calming now. Though it at least doubles the amount of time it takes to get to town, if this way leads to town that is, the curves make the walk more enjoyable. It's not just one continuous straight line.  
I have no idea how much time has passed but I guess it to be around 10 minutes and the rays of sunlight shining down have already caused sweat to soak my hair and face. It probably looks like I just ran a marathon. As a result of this, I decide that it's already time for a break. I'm already regretting not grabbing a water bottle before I left. As a single drop of sweat sides down my face from my forehead, I make my way off the road to the edge of the trees where I take shelter from the sun underneath one of them. I already feel much better.  
As I rest, my mind wanders to what got me here in the first place. I remember sitting next to my sister in the living room of my house back home waiting for my dad to explain why he called us to a family meeting. We never had family meetings. I can practically still feel my heart dropping as anger rose when he broke the news of his little summer vacation. Michelle was of course ecstatic to leave home for a few months. Her reaction was the exact opposite of mine. While I was yelling with anger, she was screeching with happiness and while I locked myself in my room in a manner similar to what I tried to do yesterday, she went screaming it to the world. It was almost comical how drastically different my sister's reaction was from mine.  
When my mind finally strays away from that thought, I realize I've already cooled down immensely so I decide to continue walking in the same direction I had been going in before I stopped. As soon as I step out of the shade from the trees, I can feel the blazing hot sun heating me up but I continue anyway, knowing I'll have to get used to this heat sooner or later if I want to do anything but sit in that house bored out of my mind all summer.  
My walk continues as it had before, walking at a medium pace while taking in all the sights, despite the fact that 'all the sights' means trees, trees, trees, and, oh look, a _bush_. Not even any tiny animals are in sight. As interesting as trees can be, tree after tree after tree can be any kind of entertaining for so long. So after a while longer of walking and sweating all the liquids in my body out, the thought of starting my journey back to the house appears. Even though I don't want to go back, I also don't want to be sweating my life away out here. My pace slows slightly as I struggle to decide what I'm going to do. I was hoping to come across the town that's a twenty minute walk from the house but I still haven't seen a sign of it and I'm starting to think I'm not going to. I must have walked the wrong way or should've turned at some point.  
I'm close to turning around when I walk a curve in the road and notice the trees coming to an end up ahead. I can see the beginning of the town ahead. My eyes widen at the sight of it and a smile grows on my face. Excited for the chance to meet new people who could possibly make the summer enjoyable, my walk escalates to a run. The strip of road leading to the end of the woods and the beginning of town gets smaller and smaller with each stride and before I know it, I'm wandering around the town just looking around at the buildings.  
A lot of time passes just walking around before I feel my stomach growling with hunger. The growls are loud and now that I've become aware of my hunger, I'm starting to feel it. My stomach now aches for food and its emptiness almost hurts. So, with my hungry body reminding me every second, I continue walking around in search for a place to eat. It isn't long before I find one on the edge of town and I quickly walk in.  
The first thing I notice about the place is the smell. I'm immediately greeted with the comforting smell of baked goods and my mouth starts watering. It reminds me of my hangout back home, a little bakery called _The Sweet Express_ that always had the best kinds of desserts and sweets.  
The second thing I notice is the design of the place. While the outside was a simple brick building, the inside is designed to look like a home. The whole place minus the areas restricted to staff is a single room. The floor is a tan carpet and the walls are a nice brown. Scattered around the room are leather chairs and couches that surround wooden tables with vases of roses and stacks of books and magazines. The couches even have some throw pillows on them. On the right wall is a good sized flat screen TV that's currently playing the news while on the left is the counter you order your food and baked sweets. On the far side of the room, the wall both the left and right walls intersect with, is a large window the overlooks the woods.  
The last thing I notice are the sounds. There's quiet music playing but other than that, the place is quiet. It's not an uncomfortable quiet though. It's a quiet that makes me relax and want to sink into one of the couches to take a nap. It finishes off and completes the homely vibe all the other details give off. I like this place already.  
I walk up to the counter and notice a little bell with a notice beside it saying ' _Please ring bell for service if no worker is at the counter._ ' I'm about to ring the bell when I realize that I should decide what I'm going to get before I force a worker to attend to my wants. So I pull my hand away and look up at the menu handwritten in chalk on a chalkboard that's on the wall above the counter. It doesn't take me long to choose what I want as my main course so I move on to look at the selection of sweets currently on display. There's many things and all of them look fantastic. There's fruit pies, cream pies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and so much more. It takes me a long time but I finally decide on a piece of red velvet cake.  
With my full order in mind, I ring the bell and wait. Only a few seconds after ringing the bell pass before the double door behind the counter opens and someone walks out. When I get a closer look at the person, my breath hitches. It's a male that looks about my age with pink hair and dark onyx eyes and while I feel like those features should be unattractive, this particular male looks _hot_ with them. Quickly regaining my thoughts, I give the boy a smile.  
"Welcome to _The Summer Rose_ ," he recites, also with a smile. "How may I help you?"  
"Um...hi. Can I get the Budding Rose Club Sandwhich please with raspberry tea as my drink?" The pink-haired boy nods and writes the order on a small slip of paper.  
"Would that be all?" he asks as his gaze lifted from the paper back to me.  
"I would also like a piece of the Red Velvet Rose cake too." With a nod, the boy quickly adds the cake to the order before looking at me once again.  
"Alright, payments are made after your food is delivered so I'll be right back with your order so you can pay," he informs me before slipping back through the door he came through.  
Around ten minutes later, the double door opened and the pink-haired boy stepped out with a plate and cup in his hands. Setting the food and drink of the counter, he looks at me with a smile. "That'll be $12.97 please."  
Nodding, I go to reach into my pockets for my money when I realize I'm not wearing anything with pockets. Meaning I didn't bring my money. My eyes widening, I look at the boy who is patiently waiting, though his smile has vanished. "Um...we might have a problem here," I tell him and when he looks at me to continue explaining, I nervously glance away before looking back. "I may have left my money at home and not realized until now," I admit.  
Expecting yelling or an annoyed sigh, I flinch away but my gaze quickly shoots to the boy when I hear laughter. Sure enough, his head is rolled back as he laughs. I just stand there staring, not sure how to react or what to do. When his laughter dies down, he looks at me and smiles. "Not to worry. You have a few options available to you to help you out."  
"And those are?"  
"Well you could, one, leave now and go without eating, two, take a work shift here to pay it back, three, leave now and come back later with the proper money so you can eat, or, four, and this one is a personal offer, not a restaurant approved one, let me pay for you. You can pay me back later on."  
"Um...well, I'm too hungry to just leave now, I'm not looking for a job currently, and I walked here so I'm not about to take two more twenty minutes trips to and from town. That leaves just the last option but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Why are you offering to pay for me?"  
"Simple. I can practically _feel_ the hunger radiating from you and while I may be dense, I'm not mean. Besides, I've stolen plenty of meals from this place and it wouldn't hurt to pay for one even if it isn't mine."  
"You've stolen meals from here? Won't that get you fired?"  
He shakes his head. "Nah, my parents own the place and I work here as a favor for them sometimes so I get away with it."  
"Oh, cool."  
"So, you gonna let me pay?"  
Quickly going over the pros and cons, my mind is at war. I don't like making a stranger pay for me but he offered it and I'm starving. The walk home would be miserable if I spent it as hungry as I am. Just as the side telling me not to do it was starting to win, my stomach growls incredibly loudly and the emptiness taunts me, which makes the decision for me. "Yeah, I'll let you pay."  
"Okay, you stay here and eat. I'll be back in a minute." Nodding my head, I take the sandwich and tea as he slips back through the door. I make my way to one of the chairs and sit down, setting the food and drink on the wooden table in front of me. Picking up the sandwich, I take a bite and as the flavor fills my mouth, I know I made the right choice. This is proven even further when I swallow and the hunger immediately feels better. After this I quickly scarf down the food. After swallowing the last bite of the sandwich, I take a sip of the tea.  
I let out a sigh of relief right as the door behind the counter opens again. The boy lets out a chuckle as he looks at me and notices the already empty plate. "Wow, I'm impressed. You ate that as fast as I eat and I'm told I eat like a demon starved of souls for 10,000 years," he tells me with a grin.  
"Well, my breakfast was kinda ruined so I haven't eaten at all today."  
"How so?"  
"Ugh, terrible day is how. First my younger sister walks in on me before I got dressed, then I spilled the milk for my cereal all over the floor and my clothes. Then after I cleaned up and changed, my dad yelled at me for leaving the leftover milk out when I had planned on just drinking it since it wasn't enough for anything else. I didn't get to do my makeup, hair, or anything," I replay my day. "The only reason I'm here is because there's nothing else to do in that house with no electronics."  
"No electronics? What's you do to get them taken away?"  
"Nothing, " I groan. "My father sent us on this weird family summer vacation and no electronics besides an hour of TV each day is allowed."  
"And your family vacation is to this little town?"  
"Ridiculous isn't it?" I say. Then, realizing I'm basically insulting the town he lives in, I quickly add, "No offense to you though."  
"None taken," he reassures me. "Alright, you're paid for."  
"Thanks, I really owe you. I'll come back tomorrow with money to pay you back."  
Shaking his head, the boy gives me another smile. "No, I don't want your money. i have a different thing in mind," he says. Looking up at him, I think he sees the confusion in my eyes so he continues. "I'm always open to meeting new friends. Your payback for me will be to become the friend of me and my other friends." At this point, he has walked out from behind the counter and is now in front of me.  
My eyes widen at this and my moth falls open in shock. "You want my friendship over my money?"  
"Yeah, what's so surprising about that?"  
"I don't know if what you want is normal here but where I'm from, money is always on top. Everyone is materialistic," I explain.  
A frown appears on his face for just a second before he grins at me. "Well here, money is never more important than friends and family. But nevermind that. You'll learn that yourself the longer you stay here," he tells me. "Now, as an employee of this place I'm required to ask. How was your food?"  
"It was good," I state simply.  
"Would you eat here again?"  
"Definitely."  
"Okay, that's it," he says, putting the paper with my responses in a jar behind the counter. He's about to start walking over to me again when his eyes land on the velvet cake in the sweet display. "Oh! I never got you your cake!" Darting over to the display, he grabs a piece of the cake and walks over to where I sit.  
"Thank you," I say with a smile as I grab the plate from him.  
"No problem!" There's a silence as I eat after this but it doesn't last long. "Oh! We never got each other's names!" He hold his hand out to me. "Natsu. My name is Natsu Dragneel."  
Taking his hand, I reply, "I'm Lucy Heartfilia. It's nice to meet you, Natsu."  
"You as well, Lucy."


	3. Chapter 3

When I arrive home later that day my feet are sore from the amount of walking I had done and I'm ready to flop into my bed and stay there the rest of the day despite it only being one in the afternoon. Expecting the house to be loud with my rambunctious sister running around, I'm thoroughly surprised when the soft hum of the air conditioner is the only sound throughout the house. Kicking off my shoes, I let out a sigh of relief as the cooled air surrounds me and head toward my dad's room to see if he's there. After a few knocks on his door, the quiet still hasn't ben interrupted so I crack it open and look inside. The room is empty. Closing the door again, I walk to Michelle's room to see if she's at least here but I'm greeted by the same silence.  
After that, I decide to go to the kitchen. If they left they might've been smart enough to leave a note so I would know where they were or at least how long they'd be gone. When I see the small note sitting on the counter, I quickly walk over to it.  
 _Lucy, Michelle and I went out to buy some groceries since last night's dinner was made up of most of the food. If you get hungry while we're gone, there's some mayonnaise and lunch meats in the refrigerator to make a sandwich. Or you could make a pb &j. We'll be back around 2 or 3. ~Dad_  
So I had an hour or two left of complete freedom before they returned to do whatever I wanted. The only problem was that I still hadn't been given my phone and I wanted to save my hour of television. Heading to my room, I try to come up with something to do. Naturally, the first thing I do is start blasting music through the house but once my head is bobbing up and down with the beat, I'm left sitting on my bed doing nothing else.  
Looking around my room, I notice my guitar sitting in the corner of the room so I get up, ignoring the ache of protest my feet give me, and grab it, turning off the music in the process. I sit down in the chair next to the window and start running my fingers over the strings. Noticing it's still in tune from the night before, I immediately jump into playing songs. Though it's been a long time since I've played any of them, minus yesterday, the notes and rhythms come to me easily. It's like I never stopped playing and before I know it, a full hour has passed of constant playing and I hear the front door open, announcing the arrival of my two family members. I ignore it however and continue playing through the song. When I finish that one, I launch right into another one, thinking this is the last one for now. When the end of that song comes all too soon, I sigh and go to put the guitar away when I hear clapping. Snapping my head toward my door, I see both my dad and sister standing there. "How long have you guys been standing there?"  
"Long enough to notice your playing is still perfect," my dad informs me. "It's like you never stopped."  
A bright smile is on my sister's face when she jumps forward into my room. "It was like a cool flashback to one of your concerts! Those were always a blast!"  
"We did have a great time, didn't we?" I reminisce as I take my guitar off my lap and hold onto into with one hand.  
Michelle nods her head. "You should put on one of the concerts again!"  
"Now?" I ask unsurely. "I'm not sure."  
"Why not? You obviously still have the skill to do it. Along with enough songs still memorized by heart. C'mon, it can be just the three of us," my dad encourages me.  
"It'll be so fun!" Michelle exclaims. "Please Lucy? Please?" she begs, dragging out the last 'please.'  
After another few minutes of begging and encouraging from my family, I nod my head. "Fine, I'll do it." Then a large grin spreads across my face as I come up with an idea. "Then we could go out to eat like we did sometimes as a celebration for learning a bunch of new songs to play? Except this time to celebrate playing at all?"  
At this, Michelle turns to Dad and jumps on him, hanging onto him. "Can we, daddy? Can we?"  
"Of course we can!"  
"Yay! Let's go!" Michelle yells, grabbing the hand not holding my guitar and dragging me out the door into the living room with Dad following closely behind. Pretty soon I'm seated on the couch with my dad sitting in the chair to my left and Michelle leaning on the coffee table on the floor in front of me. I start off with some of the easier songs but soon move on to ones that are more difficult but also more fun. I've played about 15 songs when I move on to requests from my two audience members. Just like old times, I only play four request songs, two from my dad and two from Michelle. By the end of the last requested song, I'm almost sad to end the concert but I'm also extremely excited. The amount of playing I've done was destroying my fingers, especially since it's been multiple years since I've played and my fingers can't take it as well as they used to. After the last chord of the last song, my sister and dad clap loudly, both with large smiles.  
"That was amazing!"  
"I never realized how much I missed your playing until now," my dad says.  
"Thanks Michelle, Dad. I'll start playing again then," I say with a genuine smile. Before either one of them can answer, I stand up and start walking toward my bedroom. "I'm going to put this away and then I'll be back out. After glancing at the clock, I add, "And since it's still so early maybe we could do something else before we go."  
"Sounds good to me," my dad nods.  
"Me too!' Michelle squeaks out.  
After making it to my room and putting my guitar in its place, I go back out to where my family is waiting for me. "So what do you guys think we should do while we wait for some more time to pass?" A small silence follows my words as we all try to think of something we'd all enjoy until Michelle jumps up.  
"I got it!" Dad and I both look at her expectantly. "Let's play tag!" Before either dad or I could answer, she shoots forward and gives my left arm a quick tap before running off toward the front door. "Lucy's it!"  
A grin spreads over my face as my dad immediately starts running after her. Pushing myself forward, I chase after both of them and just a minute later, I've passed on the 'it' title to my father. As we play, we're almost constantly laughing and six o'clock rolls around with lightning speed so we decide to start getting ready to leave for dinner.  
At half past six, Dad sits in the driver seat of our car, I get the front passenger seat, and Michelle sits on my side in the back seat. "So, since we don't know where any restaurants are here, do you want to just drive around town until we find one that looks appealing?"  
"Actually, I think I know the prefect place to go. I found it when I went for my run this morning. It's small but it's a really friendly place that just gives off the safe, homey vibes."  
"Like _The Sweet Express_ back home?"  
"Exactly. Except this place also sells meals, not just sweets. It's called _The Summer Rose_."  
"What do you think, Mich?" my dad asks, slightly turning toward the girl in the backseat.  
"I think it sounds great!" the girl exclaims.  
" _The Summer Rose_ it is," my dad laughs.  
The drive there seems like barely a minute, even with having to give directions to it. I walked in first, breathing in the comforting smells for the second time today. A small smile appears on my face when I see the pink hair and grin of Natsu. He's sitting casually on one of the couches with a bunch of other people, though now he's wearing normal clothes in place of work clothes.  
None of the people have noticed me and my family yet so I smile and wave my hand. "Natsu!"  
When he turns his head and sees me, his grin grows slightly. "Back already?"  
"Well obviously," I say with a 'duh' tone.  
Then one of the people sitting with him speaks up. "Who is this, Natsu?" The new speaker is a girl with vibrant red hair.  
"Guys, this is Lucy. The girl I told you about that's visiting this town for the summer," Natsu explains to his friends. "Lucy, these are my friends."  
"It's nice to meet you Lucy," a short girl with blue hair says as she steps forward. "I'm Levy!"  
Before I can respond, Natsu cuts in. "Hey Lucy, who are the people behind you?"  
Turning around I see my dad and sister standing semi-awkwardly behind me. "Oh, this is my family. Meet my dad, Jude Heartfilia, and my little sister, Michelle Heartfilia."  
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I didn't know Lucy had already met a bunch of people," my dad says. "This is quite the pleasant surprise."  
"Well actually Dad, I only know Natsu. He was the worker that served me my food earlier. I've never seen the others before."  
"Well still. Our second day here and you're about to meet a whole bunch of potential friends."  
"I guess." Then I turn back toward the group of new people. "Um, so on to more introductions?"  
"Sure!" Natsu exclaims as he jumps up and walks over to me. "That red haired girl over there is Erza. I'm warning you now, do not get on her bad side. Levy has already introduced herself but there's no harm doing it again. The small blue-haired girl is Levy. She's a bookworm and major smarty-pants but she's also really nice and sweet. The dude with all the piercings is Gajeel. He looks and acts tough but he has a sweet side you'll see eventually. The guy with no shirt is Gray. He's a stripper so beware of that. He's also my worst enemy." He pauses to take a breath since most of the introductions so far were all in one breath. Then he continues, "The girl in the long red dress is Mirajane. She's is usually really nice but if you get her angry, be prepared to die. The large dude next to her is Mira's brother Elfman. He's obsessed with things being 'manly.' The girl next to them is Mira and Elfman's little sister Lisanna. She's been my best friend since we were kids and she loves animals. The brown-haired girl with the bottle is Cana. She has drinking problem. The whole town knows about it and more attempts than I can count have been made to get her to stop but nothing has worked. The girl clinging to Gray is Juvia. She has a weird obsession with him and isn't afraid to show it. I have no idea what she sees in that stripper. The guy with the weird tattoo under his eyes is Jellal. He's the only person alive who would dare tick off Erza. Finally, the large guy with the lightning bolt scar is Laxus. Mira is the only person he has ever shown any kind of affection for and even that's once in a blue moon."  
"Wow, that's a lot of people to remember," I breathe out, already mentally going over the people and trying to remember their names.  
"Yeah but you'll get them all soon enough." Before I can respond, the double doors behind the counter swing open and two new people walk out and I prepare myself for two new names to add to the already long enough list.  
"Who are they, Natsu?"  
"Oh, that's my dad and sister. Dad, Wendy, meet Lucy."  
The man, Natsu's dad, waves at me with a smile. "Hello Lucy. Welcome to our little town. I'm Igneel."  
"And I'm Wendy!" the girl cuts in. "I hope you like our town!"  
"Oh I'm sure I will," I state. I may have hated it when I first got here but today has quickly started to change my mind. I met Natsu, I had some much needed bonding time with my family, and I just met so many more nice people.  
"Well, why don't you and your family back there come sit down and order? I'll have Natsu help out in the kitchen so you can get your food faster," he says before turning to the pinkette. "Natsu."  
"Aye sir!" Natsu salutes before quickly running through the double doors.  
"Why don't you go too, Wendy?"  
The girl nods and follows Natsu through the doors. "Thank you, Igneel. You're all too kind to people you don't know," my dad says as he slips past me and starts walking toward one of the couches. Michelle and I follow behind him.  
"Oh, it's not a problem. That's just the way of us Dragneels."  
"Oh Dad! I love this town already! They're so nice!" Michelle exclaims, earning a few laughs from people around the room.  
Looking around at all the people smiling with my small family, I can tell tonight will be a good night.

 **I'm so sorry this took so long! I've had the chapter written and finished for so long but I couldn't decide if I liked it or not so I couldn't upload it and I didn't have the motivation or inspiration to think up and write something else so I left it alone for a while thinking maybe I would magically get both of those if I waited patiently. But of course I was wrong looking at the last time I updated this, I knew I couldn't wait any longer. So I looked through it, touched it up a bit (Added a whole new part) and changed the ending a bit after fantastically being able to figure out what it was missing. Now I like it and yeah. I hope you like it so all the waiting for you and stressing for me will have been worth it. See you in the next chapter! (Hopefully)**


	4. Chapter 4

A soft and warm wind runs its invisible fingers through my hair as the blonde strands bounce with each step I take. The green leaves in the trees are dancing shyly along with the bushes and flowers scattered throughout the area. The silence that fills the air feels tranquil and brings a sense of peace over me, relaxing my body and mind. The light thumps of my feet against the pavement is the only sound that stands out against the rest.

Wearing a simple blue tank top with a black skirt and tennis shoes, I make my way to town. Specifically to a building a certain pink-haired male is working. Last night before my family and I left, he made me promise to coming back the next day so I could start officially paying him back for the money he spent on me. So when I woke up this morning, I got ready and started my trek to town.

It isn't as hot today so there's very little sweating compared to yesterday, though it's still enough to leave my forehead and face shining. As I walk, I go over all the people I met yesterday just in case any of them made an appearance while I was at there, mumbling to myself in the process.

Erza is the scary girl with red hair. Gajeel is the tall dude wearing all black with piercings covering his face. Levy is the cute bookworm. Gray is the one that likes to strip. Igneel is Natsu's father, the man with red hair. The young blue haired girl is his sister Wendy..."

I trail off as I try to remember anyone else I saw and met while I was there. I straighten up as three more people pop into my mind. "Sweet woman with silver hair is Mirajane. Huge dude always talking about manliness is her brother Elfman." I pause as I try to think of the last name. "Oh! Their younger sister is Lisanna, the animal lover."

I continue on like this until I've named every person I can remember. By the time I've finished it's been over ten minutes and the town is just around the corner. Knowing this, I speed my walk up slightly and when the town comes into view, I speed up just a bit more. I don't know why I'm in such a hurry but I just feel like I need to be walking quickly.

My pace decreases when the correct building appears in my line of vision and a smile works its way onto my face as I open the door to it and step in. I immediately welcome the warm aura of the place. Looking around, I notice no one is currently out here in front so I walk over to the counter and ring the bell.

I barely have to wait before the double doors are swinging open and Natsu is stepping out, his sister behind him. "Lucy! You made it!"

"Of course I made it. Not like I'm gonna skip out."

"Good," he says with a grin. Then he points at the display case filled with sweets. "Gonna order anything today?"

I shake my head. "Nah, I already had breakfast back home."

With a nod, he turns to Wendy, who's just standing behind him waiting patiently. "Since she's not gonna order anything, you can go back to the back, Wen."

"Okay," the girl accepts with a polite smile before turning around and making her way back through the double doors. With Wendy gone, Natsu turns back to me. "So where do you want to go today?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I have no idea. This place is literally the only place I know in this town so far."

"Well then we can go meet up with Erza, Gray, Levy, and Juvia. They're all hanging out today and I'm sure you'd like to get to know them more. They're all at the bowling alley today," he tells me as he takes off his work apron.

"I'd love to go bowling!"

"Cool. Just let me go put this apron away and grab my stuff. I'll be back." Before I can respond, he has followed Wendy and I'm standing alone once again in the room. This doesn't last long and less than four minutes later, Natsu has come back, apron gone, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, jeans on, and scarf wrapped around his neck.

"You didn't change the rest of your clothes?"

"Nah. We don't really have uniforms so we're allowed to wear whatever we want under our aprons as long as it's not too bright or distracting or anything. So I just wear these white long sleeves and black jeans I have in my closet," he explains.

"Ah, okay."

"So you ready to go?" he asks as he motions toward the door with his arms.

"Of course! Lead the way."

With that, he starts walking toward the door and I follow him with no hesitation. From the time I had with them last night, all his friends seem pretty cool so I'm excited to spend more time with them.

The walk goes by extremely quickly as we talk and laugh like we've known each other for years. Before I know it, we're right outside the doors of a large building called the Magnolia Bowl and Dine Bowling Arena. Going inside revealed a small area with a counter and four doors behind the counter. The door to the very left was labeled _Bowling Arena,_ the one next to the bowling one was labeled _Laser Tag Arena,_ the one to the very right was labeled _Mini Golf,_ and the one in between laser tag and mini golf was labeled _Arcade and Ticket Exchange._

A single worker is positioned behind the counter. He's tall, has piercings all over, and has eyes of steel. If only I could remember his name. Scolding myself for forgetting despite going over it in my head not too long ago, I give him a smile when he looks up. He simply nods to me, his face showing nothing but boredom.

"Hey metalhead! I didn't know you were working today," Natsu calls out to him.

'Metalhead' grunts in response. "Levy and the others haven't started their bowling games yet so if you hurry up, you and blondie might have time to join."

"Cool, thanks metal freak!" Natsu exclaims as he slaps some money onto the counter. "Do us a favor and bring us our shoes. Wouldn't want to waste any time waiting for you."

Grumbling, the pierced boy nods his head. "I know your size but what about the girl's?"

"Size 7," I inform.

Before the other male can respond, Natsu grabs my wrist and is dragging behind the counter and toward the bowling alley. He allows me through the door first before following me through it and closing it behind him. The door leads to a long, straight hallway. At the end, it veers to the left but almost immediately opens up into a large room.

As I step into the room, I look around. The lights in the room are dim but the neon lights strewn across the room make up for it. The corners and crevices of the wall and ceiling are lined with neon lights and they make up a cool design on the ceiling as well. The floor is carpet, a dark blue with bright yellow bowling pins and bowling balls as a design. The lights are slightly brighter along the bowling alleys but not by much and smaller lights are placed in between the lanes.

In front of each lane is a comfortable looking, dark blue, curved couch with a small gray table in the open space the curve makes. The couches have enough space to fit six people but there's two normal chairs at both ends of it for a total of eight seats. At the end of the table closest to the seats is the machine used to put in the names of each player. The bowling ball deposit machine is to the left of its respective lane and table.

The music being played is the kind that someone would play if they wanted to dance. It was quick and energizing but it was quiet enough that people could still focus on the game instead of dancing. It's the kind that's extremely hard to hate.

There are about twenty lanes in total but at the moment I notice only three are in use. I recognize the group Natsu and I are here for first though. The red of Erza's hair and blue of Juvia's and Levy's make it hard to miss them. They're at Lane 10.

"Hey guys!" Natsu called out when he realized where they were. "Add us to the game!"

The four of them turned around and waved once they realized who it was. "Natsu! Lucy! You made it!"

"Just in time as well. We were just about to start the game," Erza added.

"Well let's not waste anymore time! C'mon Lucy!" Natsu exclaims as he grabs my wrist and practically drags me across the room to them.

A few minutes later, the two of us have been entered in the game and Gajeel had come with our shoes. As Levy steps onto the wooden bowling floor, all of our attention is on her, including Gajeel's despite the fact that he should have returned to the counter at the entrance as soon as we had retrieved them. Her first roll goes off to the left and only knocks down a four pins. Her second one takes the same route and knocks one more pin down.

Her shoulders slump forward with disappointment as she walks back to her seat but her eyes show determination. "That was just my warm-up!" she declares. Gajeel chuckles at her which earns him a glare. "Stop your laughing!"

"Sorry Shrimp. I can't help it that you're terrible at bowling," he teases as he walks closer to her.

"Go back to your job." Her voice sounds angry and if I didn't see her face, I would have no trouble believing she actually is but she has a slight smile on her face and her eyes hold a lightness to them that completely smashes the idea of her being mad to pieces.

With another chuckle at the bluenette, he starts making his way out of the room. As he leaves, Erza stands up with a devious grin decorating her face. "I guess that means it's my turn. Soon you peasants will bow down to me and unbeatable bowling skills!" Immediately following her words, she turns and strides toward the bowling ball deposit machine, where Levy's ball already back and waiting to be used again.

"She's confident in her skills," I observe.

"Oh just you wait. You'll see why in a minute," Natsu tells me.

"Besides the fact it's Erza and I don't think there's a thing in the world she's _not_ confident about," Grays adds.

After grabbing the only silver ball, Erza quickly makes her way to stand in front of the lane. Only a few seconds pass before she launches the ball forward. It rolls smoothly down the middle and my jaw drops as all the pins tumble down for a strike. "Woah," I breathe out. "She's good."

"Good is an understatement, Lucy. She's amazing."

"Not as amazing as my darling Gray!" Juvia exclaims as she attacks the male's arm. He responds by squirming around to get her to release him. After a few seconds he gives up, however, and lets her hug his arm.

Erza sits down with a pleased look on her face. Realizing it's her turn, Juvia reluctantly lets go of Gray's arm and stands up. Speediing over to the balls, she grabs an ocean blue one. She doesn't waste time in rolling her ball. It goes off to the right slightly but stays close to the center. In the end it knocks over eight of the pins. Her second roll knocks over one more, leaving a lone pin still standing.

I add her to my mental list of opponents to watch out for.

Gray is next so he gets up quickly in hopes of avoiding Juvia's clinging. The girl pouts as she realizes she took too long in getting back and missed out on her small window of opportunity. With his ice blue ball, his first roll knocks over half the pins. His second go knocks over three more.

Natsu practically jumps up once Gray starts walking back after his turn. He grabs a bright red bowling ball. My mouth falls open when the ball glides down the alley and knocks down all of the pins. Seeing he got a strike, he sits down with a cocky grin. This whole group is great at bowling.

It's my turn now. Hiding the grin trying to make its way on my own face, I grab a hot pink ball. After a single deep breath, I make my move and send the ball on its way down the alley. It takes a route similar to Juvia's except instead of knocking down eight pins like hers, it immediately knocks down the nine. The tenth rocks in its place. We all watch anxiously as it keeps this up for a good five seconds.

Eventually the rocking gets too much for it and it falls over. Letting out a sigh of relief, I turn around triumphantly and let the grin form. "Three? We have three terrific players now? This is terrible!" Gray exclaims.

"Say bye to your bronze medal, Gray. It looks like Lucy's going to steal it," Natsu laughs.

"Shut it pyro!"

"Nah. I can't let this perfect opportunity to tease you pass, stripper."

Gray is just about to reply back but Erza stops them. "This better not be the start of a fight I see forming." Immediately, the two throw their arms around each other.

"No ma'am! No fighting here!"

"Just best friends!"

"Good." Then she turns to me with a somehow evil yet sweet glint in her eyes. "Good job Lucy but don't get used to it because I will beat you hard."

Nervously laughing I nod my head. "Yes ma'am."

When everyone has settled down as much as they're ever going to, Levy stands back up to start the second round.

The rest of the game goes by quickly. Natsu, Erza, and I all stay within the top three though the order of us continously switches throughout the game.

The last round starts with Erza in first, Natsu in second, and me in third. Gray follows me with Juvia behind him. Levy is in last. It's expected to stay that way but during Erza's turn, a blue-haired boy with a weird tattoo under his right eye passes and messes her up, causing her to knock down only seven of the pins. Her second turn knocks the rest down but it still proves as her downfall when Natsu's turn comes around. He gets another strike which gets him above Erza, much to the dismay of the girl.

Then it's my turn. After this, I'm either moving up to second or finishing third. Knowing I'll be happy with either, I don't worry about it too much. My first roll ends with nine pins down so I only have one pin left but my second ball misses the pin by a hair. Erza lets out a sigh of relief that she still gets second.

With the final scores, we all congratualate Natsu, except Gray who is grumpy he came in fourth, and start to clean up. Since this place serves food and drinks for bowlers, the table is littered with garbage.

Cleaning up takes only a few minutes with all six of us and before I know it, we've changed back into our normal shoes and are walking out the door of the building. Despite hvaing plenty of food while bowling, we all agree to go over the The Summer Rose.

As we walk, I can't help but smile as I watch all my new friends laughing. Back at home I'd never had friends like this and those were people I've known for years. I've known these people for two days including today. Two days ago when I first arrived here, I hated everything about this place. Since I met Natsu early yesterday and the rest of them late yesterday they've already completely flipped my views. I can tell they're only going to continue doing that throughout all this summer.

* * *

 **Can I just say this chapter was** _ **terrible**_ **to write? I've been working on it since right after I uploaded the last chapter but I just couldn't get much done every time I tried to write. All of it up to** **"'Well let's not waste anymore time! C'mon Lucy!' Natsu exclaims as he grabs my wrist and practically drags me across the room to them." was literally written sentences at a time. Every time I worked on it, I got out a sentence or two before I stopped. Thankfully I cranked the rest out in one sitting. Otherwise this update would take quite a bit longer than it already has.**

 **Also, you know how spring break is supposed to be a great time to update more than usual? Yeah, well, not for me. I'm four days into mine and the only reason I'm writing is because I forced myself to. Although once I got writing I was really into it, it took four days of break to get there. I've been too caught up in reading the fanfiction of other people.**

 **Well, I'm gonna stop rambling and upload this already. See ya my peeps!**


	5. GRoS Update

Update: Hey guys, this isn't the update you probably were expecting and maybe hoping for but I have some things to say. As you might have noticed, it's been a while since this has been updated. Exactly two months to be specific. "Why is that?" you might being asking. Well, put bluntly, it's because I don't have the inspiration or motivation for this fic and I'm most likely going to discontinue it. I'm completely stuck on this next chapter and everything I write seems dry and boring. I don't know where I'm taking it and how I'm getting there. If I do end up discontinuing it, I don't know if I'm going to keep it up or just completely delete it. I'll try to get back to you on my final decision soon.

Buh-bye for now


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